The academic content of the sport management program at Marietta College is coupled with real-life projects so students can take the content and apply it into scenerios that require them to solve challenges, create new ideas an initiatives, and engage an audience.
COMMUNITY DAY - Sports Marketing Class
Community day is a 20+ year tradition at Marietta College. As part of the SMGT 336 sports marketing class, students write sponsorship proposals to secure sponsors for the event, create a marketing plan for the event, and then produce the event/show. Centered around a selected baseball game and a selected softball game, Community Day welcomes fans at no cost to the ball parks, and includes food, beverages, games for kids, giveaways, etc. to provide a free, family-friendly atmosphere. In 2019, over 2,000 fans attended, making it one of the highest-attended Community Days in history.
MENTOR PROJECT - Sport Management Class
The professional network (mentor project) is assigned to students in the SMGT 280 sport management course. This assignments pairs students with a selected professional in the sport industry, and the students talk with their mentor at least three times during the semester. The goals of the assignment include: having meaningful, academic conversation with the mentor about material the student is learning, applying the content from the conversation to the content in the book, reflecting on the content of both, and make a meaningful professional connection. Mentors include football coaches and athletics directors at various colleges, ticket sales and other staffers for professional baseball, basketball, and football teams, employees of sports commissions that organize large-scale events such as the NCAA(R) Final Four(R), and others.
PIO MADNESS - Sport Facility and Event Management Class
Marietta College's version of "Midnight Madness" is PIO MADNESS, the event that "tips-off" basketball season. The 2019 event was managed by the SMGT 334 sport event and facility management course. Students worked individually and in groups to secure sponsorships, create the "atmosphere" of the event, write and produce the run of show (game script), and execute an advertising/promotional plan for the event.
MOCK TRIAL - Sport Law Class
Baseballs that enter the stands are a part of basbeall, as are pucks in hockey, diving players in basketball, and errant golf balls in golf. But who holds the legal liability, if any, in these scenerios? The SMGT 332 sport law class learns about many topics facing the sport industry, and the year culminates with students participating in a mock trial with an actual case that has been tried by the U.S. Judicial System.